vimrc

Prerequisites

Mac: You will to want to use a terminal that supports Truecolor, like:
- Alacritty
- Extraterm
Ubuntu: The install script will attempt to install xsel for clipboard support. This is preferred over clipman.

Installation for Vim

Clone this repository and its submodules into your home directory

git clone --recurse-submodules git://github.com/tecfu/.vim ~/.vim

Run Install Script

. ~/.vim/INSTALL.sh

coc.nvim

Why use coc.nvim?

coc-snippets allows you to use VSCode snippets with vim

coc.nvim language server ease of install

List all installed extensions

:CocList extensions

Access coc-settings.json

:CocConfig

CoC Profiles

This configuration supports multiple, isolated coc.nvim profiles. Each profile has its own coc-settings.json and extensions.json, located in ~/.vim/coc-profiles/<profile_name>/.

The active profile is determined by the COC_PROFILE environment variable. If it's not set, it defaults to default.

Switching Profiles:

To use a different profile for a single session, set the COC_PROFILE environment variable when launching Neovim. For example, to use a profile named efm:

COC_PROFILE=efm nvim

To make a profile the default for all sessions, you can export the variable in your shell's startup file (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc):

export COC_PROFILE=efm

Creating a New Profile:

Create a directory for your new profile:

mkdir -p ~/.vim/coc-profiles/my-new-profile

Add a coc-settings.json to that directory.
Add an extensions.json to that directory to define the CoC extensions for that profile.

Configuration Modes

This configuration supports three completion/LSP modes via the NVIM_CONFIG environment variable:

`NVIM_CONFIG` value	Mode	Description
`coc`	CoC	Uses `coc.nvim` for completion and language server support
`cmp-efm`	nvim-cmp + EFM	Uses `nvim-cmp` for completion with `efm-langserver` wrapping linters/formatters
`cmp-builtin`	nvim-cmp + Builtin (Default)	Uses `nvim-cmp` for completion with native Neovim LSP and no `efm-langserver` dependency

If NVIM_CONFIG is unset, empty, or set to any value other than coc/cmp-efm, it falls back to cmp-builtin.

Switching Modes

To use a different mode for a single session:

NVIM_CONFIG=coc nvim

To make a mode the default, export it in your shell's startup file (e.g., ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc):

export NVIM_CONFIG=cmp-efm

Mode 1: CoC (`coc`)

What it is: Uses the coc.nvim extension host, which provides VSCode-like language server integration.

When to use: If you prefer the VSCode extension ecosystem or need specific CoC extensions.

Configuration:

Most language servers are configured via CoC extensions in ~/.vim/coc-profiles/<profile>/extensions.json
Settings are in ~/.vim/coc-profiles/<profile>/coc-settings.json
See the CoC Profiles section above for managing multiple profiles
Servers listed in ~/.vim/lsp-servers.json (shared with cmp-builtin, see Mode 3) are registered automatically as generic languageserver.* entries at startup — you don't need a CoC extension or a coc-settings.json entry for those (e.g. Python's basedpyright/ruff diagnostics work in coc mode without installing coc-pyright/coc-pylsp)

Installing language servers:

:CocInstall coc-tsserver coc-go

Mode 2: nvim-cmp + EFM (`cmp-efm`)

What it is: Uses nvim-cmp for completion and efm-langserver as a universal language server that wraps linters and formatters.

When to use: If you want a single language server that can handle multiple tools (ESLint, Prettier, etc.) with project-specific configurations. Requires efm-langserver to be installed and runnable on your machine.

Configuration:

EFM configuration is in ~/.vim/efm-langserver-config.yaml
The wrapper script at ~/.vim/efm-langserver-linter-wrapper.sh intelligently uses project-local configs when available
See Advanced Linting with EFM-Langserver section for details

Installing language servers:

EFM-langserver itself: Install from github.com/mattn/efm-langserver
Individual tools (ESLint, Prettier, etc.): Install via npm/pip as needed

Mode 3: nvim-cmp + Builtin (`cmp-builtin`) - Default

What it is: Uses nvim-cmp for completion and native Neovim LSP (vim.lsp), with each language server's cmd/filetypes/settings configured explicitly — no efm-langserver required.

When to use: For a modern, lightweight setup with direct LSP integration and no external universal-linter dependency. Recommended for most users, and required if you can't run efm-langserver on your machine.

Configuration:

Language servers are loaded from ~/.vim/lsp-servers.json. This is a single, plain-JSON source of truth shared by both cmp-builtin and coc mode (see Mode 1), so a server only needs to be defined once to work in either mode. Pure lint/format-only tools that require efm-langserver (e.g. flake8, markdownlint) stay defined separately in efm-langserver-config.yaml, since that file is specific to cmp-efm mode.

Adding a Language Server:

To add a new LSP, edit ~/.vim/lsp-servers.json and add an entry to the servers array:

{
  "name": "pyright",
  "filetypes": ["python"],
  "cmd": ["pyright-langserver", "--stdio"],
  "root_patterns": [".git", "requirements.txt"],
  "install": "pip install pyright"
}

Configuration Fields:

name: (Required) A unique identifier for the server (used as the CoC languageserver.<name> key and the Neovim LSP client name).
filetypes: (Required) Array of filetypes the server should attach to.
cmd: (Required) Array — the command and arguments used to launch the server.
root_patterns: Array of files/directories that indicate the project root (optional, defaults to [".git"]).
settings: Object passed through as LSP initializationOptions/workspace/didChangeConfiguration settings (optional).
install: Shell command to install the server binary (optional). Used by INSTALL.sh (via jq), and by both coc and cmp-builtin themselves at startup, to auto-install missing servers; also documents how to install it manually.

Installing language servers:

Installation is automatic in both coc and cmp-builtin mode: on startup, each server in lsp-servers.json is checked with executable(), and if missing, its install command runs in the background (a message is echoed when the install starts/finishes). Restart nvim once it completes so the new binary is picked up.

You can also install everything up front by running INSTALL.sh (requires jq), or install a server manually using its install command, e.g.:

# TypeScript/JavaScript
npm install -g typescript-language-server typescript

# Python
pip install basedpyright ruff

# Go
go install golang.org/x/tools/gopls@latest

Windows: "Installed" but the binary still isn't found (stale PATH)

On Windows, if an install places a new binary in a directory that was just added to PATH (e.g. pip install --user adding to %APPDATA%\Python\Python3xx\Scripts), an already-running terminal/app (and any nvim/VS Code instance spawned from it) will not see the update — child processes only inherit PATH from their parent at the moment they were spawned, and Windows env var changes are only picked up by processes started fresh after the change (or after a full logoff/logon). Simply opening a new tab in an already-running terminal app does not help, since the new tab is a child of that already-running (stale) process.

To confirm this is what's happening, check whether the new directory is missing from the current session:

$env:Path -split ';' | Select-String Python

To fix it without restarting anything, reload PATH from the registry into the current session:

$env:Path = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","Machine") + ";" + [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path","User")

Otherwise, fully quit (not just close a tab of) the terminal/app that will launch nvim, or log off and back on.

Verifying LSP is working:

Open a file of the appropriate type (e.g., .js, .py)
Run :LspInfo to see active language servers
You should see the server listed as attached to the buffer

Debug Logging:

To see detailed debug messages about LSP setup and attachment, set the VIM_LOG_LEVEL environment variable:

# Enable debug logging (level 3 or higher)
VIM_LOG_LEVEL=3 nvim yourfile.js

# Or export it for all sessions
export VIM_LOG_LEVEL=3

Then check :messages to see the debug output.

Servers currently defined in lsp-servers.json:

Python: basedpyright (type-checking), ruff (linting)
JavaScript/TypeScript: ts_ls
Go: gopls
SQL: sqlls

See the full list of available servers in nvim-lspconfig for reference cmd/filetypes values when adding new entries (note: cmp-builtin mode no longer depends on nvim-lspconfig's own server definitions — lsp-servers.json is self-contained).

Installation for Neovim

Add the following to ~.config/nvim/init.vim:

set runtimepath^=~/.vim runtimepath+=~/.vim/after
let &packpath = &runtimepath
source ~/.vimrc

Install pynvim

On Ubuntu and derivatives you will need to install python-distutils

Example for python3.11

sudo apt install python3.11-distutils

You may need to install a new version of pip (>23.1.2) before installing pynvim

pip3 install pynvim

Optional

Advanced Linting with EFM-Langserver

A key feature of this setup is its use of efm-langserver for diagnostics and formatting, managed by a custom wrapper script. This provides an intelligent, project-aware linting system.

How it works: The installer symlinks a generic wrapper script (efm-langserver-linter-wrapper.sh) that intelligently decides which configuration to use for a given linter:

If a project-local configuration file exists (e.g., eslint.config.js in your project root), the wrapper will use it. This ensures project-specific rules are always respected.
If no local configuration is found, the wrapper falls back to a personal, default configuration located in your home directory (e.g., ~/.config/eslint/). This ensures even miscellaneous files are linted consistently.

The installer automatically symlinks:

efm-langserver-config.yaml -> ~/.config/efm-langserver/config.yaml
efm-langserver-linter-wrapper.sh -> ~/.config/efm-langserver/efm-langserver-linter-wrapper.sh

One-Time Setup for Fallback Configs

For the fallback mechanism to work, you must create the personal default configurations.

For ESLint (JavaScript, JSON, Markdown code blocks):

# Create a dedicated directory
mkdir -p ~/.config/eslint
cd ~/.config/eslint

# Initialize it as a self-contained Node.js project
npm init -y

# Install the necessary parsers and plugins locally
npm i -D eslint-plugin-jsonc jsonc-eslint-parser eslint-plugin-markdown

# Now, create your fallback ~/.config/eslint/eslint.config.js

For Markdownlint (Markdown prose):

mkdir -p ~/.config/markdownlint
# Create your fallback config file (e.g., to enable all default rules)
touch ~/.config/markdownlint/config.json

Configure your terminal to use a Powerline font

i.e.: Ubuntu Mono derivative Powerline

sudo apt-get install fonts-powerline

Install Silver Searcher

sudo -S apt-get install silversearcher-ag

Adding your own plugins

This .vimrc uses junegunn/vim-plug to manage plugin installation. You can add new plugins by appending them to the file: .vimrc.plugins .
Once you have added a new plugin, you can auto-generate a tabular brief summary in the README.md file by running a npm script that does this for you:

npm run update-plugin-list

Troubleshooting

CoC can't install plugins when a npm registry is private

npm config set registry https://registry.npmjs.org

Color Scheme

Vim onedark https://github.com/joshdick/onedark.vim
Neovim (Mac) dracula https://github.com/dracula/vim
Neovim (Other) tokyonight https://github.com/folke/tokyonight.nvim

Plugin List

Name	Description	Website
ahmedkhalf/project.nvim	The superior project management solution for neovim.	http://github.com/ahmedkhalf/project.nvim
ap/vim-css-color	Preview colours in source code while editing	http://github.com/ap/vim-css-color
bling/vim-airline	lean & mean status/tabline for vim that's light as air	http://github.com/bling/vim-airline
bronson/vim-visual-star-search	Start a * or # search from a visual block	http://github.com/bronson/vim-visual-star-search
bullets-vim/bullets.vim	🔫 Bullets.vim is a Vim/NeoVim plugin for automated bullet lists.	http://github.com/bullets-vim/bullets.vim
CopilotC-Nvim/CopilotChat.nvim	Chat with GitHub Copilot in Neovim	http://github.com/CopilotC-Nvim/CopilotChat.nvim
danro/rename.vim	Rename the current file in the vim buffer + retain relative path.	http://github.com/danro/rename.vim
dhruvasagar/vim-table-mode	VIM Table Mode for instant table creation.	http://github.com/dhruvasagar/vim-table-mode
easymotion/vim-easymotion	Vim motions on speed!	http://github.com/easymotion/vim-easymotion
fannheyward/telescope-coc.nvim	coc.nvim integration for telescope.nvim	http://github.com/fannheyward/telescope-coc.nvim
FooSoft/vim-argwrap	Wrap and unwrap function arguments, lists, and dictionaries in Vim	http://github.com/FooSoft/vim-argwrap
github/copilot.vim	Neovim plugin for GitHub Copilot	http://github.com/github/copilot.vim
goatslacker/mango.vim	A color scheme for vim	http://github.com/goatslacker/mango.vim
godlygeek/tabular	Vim script for text filtering and alignment	http://github.com/godlygeek/tabular
hrsh7th/cmp-buffer	nvim-cmp source for buffer words	http://github.com/hrsh7th/cmp-buffer
hrsh7th/cmp-cmdline	nvim-cmp source for vim's cmdline	http://github.com/hrsh7th/cmp-cmdline
hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lsp	nvim-cmp source for neovim builtin LSP client	http://github.com/hrsh7th/cmp-nvim-lsp
hrsh7th/cmp-path	nvim-cmp source for path	http://github.com/hrsh7th/cmp-path
hrsh7th/nvim-cmp	A completion plugin for neovim coded in Lua.	http://github.com/hrsh7th/nvim-cmp
iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim	markdown preview plugin for (neo)vim	http://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim
inkarkat/vim-ArgsAndMore	Apply commands to multiple buffers and manage the argument list.	http://github.com/inkarkat/vim-ArgsAndMore
itchyny/calendar.vim	A calendar application for Vim	http://github.com/itchyny/calendar.vim
joshdick/onedark.vim	A dark Vim/Neovim color scheme inspired by Atom's One Dark syntax theme.	http://github.com/joshdick/onedark.vim
joshuavial/aider.nvim	No description, website, or topics provided.	http://github.com/joshuavial/aider.nvim
kshenoy/vim-signature	Plugin to toggle, display and navigate marks	http://github.com/kshenoy/vim-signature
L3MON4D3/LuaSnip	Snippet Engine for Neovim written in Lua.	http://github.com/L3MON4D3/LuaSnip
lewis6991/gitsigns.nvim	Git integration for buffers	http://github.com/lewis6991/gitsigns.nvim
liuchengxu/vista.vim	🌵 Viewer & Finder for LSP symbols and tags	http://github.com/liuchengxu/vista.vim
luochen1990/rainbow	Rainbow Parentheses Improved, shorter code, no level limit, smooth and fast, powerful configuration.	http://github.com/luochen1990/rainbow
mbbill/undotree	The undo history visualizer for VIM	http://github.com/mbbill/undotree
mechatroner/rainbow_csv	🌈Rainbow CSV - Vim plugin: Highlight columns in CSV and TSV files and run queries in SQL-like language	http://github.com/mechatroner/rainbow_csv
mfussenegger/nvim-dap	Debug Adapter Protocol client implementation for Neovim	http://github.com/mfussenegger/nvim-dap
mileszs/ack.vim	Vim plugin for the Perl module / CLI script 'ack'	http://github.com/mileszs/ack.vim
moll/vim-node	Tools and environment to make Vim superb for developing with Node.js. Like Rails.vim for Node.	http://github.com/moll/vim-node
nathanaelkane/vim-indent-guides	A Vim plugin for visually displaying indent levels in code	http://github.com/nathanaelkane/vim-indent-guides
neoclide/coc.nvim	Nodejs extension host for vim & neovim, load extensions like VSCode and host language servers.	http://github.com/neoclide/coc.nvim
neovim/nvim-lspconfig	Quickstart configs for Nvim LSP	http://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig
neovim/nvim-lspconfig	Quickstart configs for Nvim LSP	http://github.com/neovim/nvim-lspconfig
nvim-lua/plenary.nvim	plenary: full; complete; entire; absolute; unqualified. All the lua functions I don't want to write twice.	http://github.com/nvim-lua/plenary.nvim
nvim-neotest/nvim-nio	A library for asynchronous IO in Neovim	http://github.com/nvim-neotest/nvim-nio
nvim-telescope/telescope-live-grep-args.nvim	Live grep with args	http://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope-live-grep-args.nvim
nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim	Find, Filter, Preview, Pick. All lua, all the time.	http://github.com/nvim-telescope/telescope.nvim
nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter	Nvim Treesitter configurations and abstraction layer	http://github.com/nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter
olimorris/codecompanion.nvim	✨ AI Coding, Vim Style	http://github.com/olimorris/codecompanion.nvim
othree/eregex.vim	Perl/Ruby style regexp notation for Vim	http://github.com/othree/eregex.vim
preservim/vim-markdown	Markdown Vim Mode	http://github.com/preservim/vim-markdown
rcarriga/nvim-dap-ui	A UI for nvim-dap	http://github.com/rcarriga/nvim-dap-ui
saadparwaiz1/cmp_luasnip	luasnip completion source for nvim-cmp	http://github.com/saadparwaiz1/cmp_luasnip
scrooloose/vim-slumlord	Inline previews for Plantuml sequence diagrams. OMG!	http://github.com/scrooloose/vim-slumlord
tecfu/vim-move	Plugin to move lines and selections up and down	http://github.com/tecfu/vim-move
tecfu/YankRing.vim	Maintains a history of previous yanks, changes and deletes	http://github.com/tecfu/YankRing.vim
theHamsta/nvim-dap-virtual-text	No description, website, or topics provided.	http://github.com/theHamsta/nvim-dap-virtual-text
tpope/vim-commentary	commentary.vim: comment stuff out	http://github.com/tpope/vim-commentary
tpope/vim-fugitive	fugitive.vim: A Git wrapper so awesome, it should be illegal	http://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive
tpope/vim-obsession	obsession.vim: continuously updated session files	http://github.com/tpope/vim-obsession
tpope/vim-rhubarb	rhubarb.vim: GitHub extension for fugitive.vim	http://github.com/tpope/vim-rhubarb
tpope/vim-surround	surround.vim: Delete/change/add parentheses/quotes/XML-tags/much more with ease	http://github.com/tpope/vim-surround
tpope/vim-unimpaired	unimpaired.vim: Pairs of handy bracket mappings	http://github.com/tpope/vim-unimpaired
vinnymeller/swagger-preview.nvim	Start/stop a live preview of Swagger files from Neovim	http://github.com/vinnymeller/swagger-preview.nvim
zbirenbaum/copilot-cmp	Lua plugin to turn github copilot into a cmp source	http://github.com/zbirenbaum/copilot-cmp
zbirenbaum/copilot.lua	Fully featured & enhanced replacement for copilot.vim complete with API for interacting with Github Copilot	http://github.com/zbirenbaum/copilot.lua

Notes

This project is my personal vimrc. Feel free to send me suggestions through the issues page or to send me improvements through the pull requestspage.

If some characters do not render correctly

Make sure you install powerline fonts

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vimrc

Prerequisites

Installation for Vim

Clone this repository and its submodules into your home directory

Run Install Script

coc.nvim

CoC Profiles

Configuration Modes

Switching Modes

Mode 1: CoC (coc)

Mode 2: nvim-cmp + EFM (cmp-efm)

Mode 3: nvim-cmp + Builtin (cmp-builtin) - Default

Installation for Neovim

Optional

Advanced Linting with EFM-Langserver

One-Time Setup for Fallback Configs

Configure your terminal to use a Powerline font

Install Silver Searcher

Adding your own plugins

Troubleshooting

Color Scheme

Plugin List

Notes

Mode 1: CoC (`coc`)

Mode 2: nvim-cmp + EFM (`cmp-efm`)

Mode 3: nvim-cmp + Builtin (`cmp-builtin`) - Default